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Counterfeiting A Multi
Million Dollar Business
in Costa Rica
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Counterfeiting A Multi
Million Dollar Business
in Costa Rica
Clothing, compact discs,
perfumes, shoes and
books are only some of
the items in
distribution by
counterfeiters, who in
many cases attempt to
sell the knock offs for
being original.
In Costa Rica, piracy is
a us$200 million dollars
a year business
according to the Cámara
Costarricense
Norteamericana (AmCham)
that is comprised of
some 400 companies,
following a study done
by CID-Gallup.
According to AmCham, the
cost of the fake
products is about half
of the original.
The investigation
reveals that Costa
Ricans are "accomplices"
in the proliferation of
piracy in the country as
the poll indicates that
7 out of every 10
questions confessed to
having purchase, at
least once, a
counterfeit item.
The results of the study
further indicate that
50% of Ticos (Costa
Ricans) prefer
counterfeit merchandise
because it is cheaper
and similar to the
original. The lower
income sector are the
more frequent purchasers
of counterfeit products.
The CID-Gallup
investigation was of
1.000 people over the
age of 16 living in
parts of the San José
metropolitan area.
According to Lynda
Solar, executive
director of AmCham, the
loss to companies is
enormous because of the
uneven competition.
"In accordance with
Interpol, the piracy
business grows at a rate
of 8 times faster than
legitimate business. For
that we are asking the
government to take
measures", said Solar.
However, it is the
preference of the
consumer that will have
the last word, as 90% of
those polled said they
recognize a counterfeit
when offered and equally
agree to buy.
According to AmCham's
José Pablo Brenes, there
is an organized group of
counterfeiters in the
country, because,
according to Brenes to
produce and distribute
us$200 million dollars
of counterfeit
merchandise there is a
need for a formalized
organization that
includes forms of
payment and supplying
the sellers.
According to the report,
clothing and compact
discs top the list of
counterfeit items
preferred by Ticos.
Based on the
investigation, the total
percentage of
counterfeit products was
broken down to 13% for
clothing, 12% for
compact discs, 11% for
perfumes, 10% shoes and
10% books.
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AmCham's,
Lynda Solar (left) |
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